Equity Crowdfunding Exemption Scheduled for Q1 2015

I had the pleasure of speaking on a panel this morning with Gerrard Buckley of Maple Leaf Angles, Jos Schmidt of Aequitas Innovations Inc. and Jim Turner the Vice Chair of the Ontario Securities Commission. The event, Igniting Entrepreneurship and Capital Flow in Ontario was hosted by the National Crowdfunding Association and the City of Toronto at the Ontario Investment and Trade Centre.

The audience brought together professionals with a wide range of backgrounds from accountants and lawyers to entrepreneurs and investors.

Jim Turner kicked the event off by providing the audience with a summery of the newly proposed crowdfunding regulations (see Appendix D) released on March 20th. If you are considering equity crowdfunding as a means to access capital for your business, I would encourage you to read the proposed regulations. In particular, Annex D4 to the document sets out a template “Crowdfunding Offering Document” issuers will be required to prepare.

Gerrard Buckley gave some interesting insights on crowdfunding from the perspective of an angel investor, while Jos Schmidt spoke about the importance of ensuring investor protection in the crowdfunding space.

During the Q&A session Jim Turner indicated that the crowdfunding exemption would likely come into force and effect in early 2015. At the moment there is a 90-day consultation period ending June 19th. Stakeholders interested in shaping the future of crowdfunding are encouraged to make submissions on the proposed regulations.

Wires Law will be helping growth companies put together their crowdfunding offering documents in order to raise capital from the crowd and list on a registered Canadian crowdfunding portal. For more visit our Crowdfunding page.

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John Wires is a Toronto business lawyer who comes from a corporate litigation background. John is the founder of Wires Law, a law firm serving corporate, technology and e-commerce clients across Canada. He was called to the Bar of the Law Society of Upper Canada in 2011 and has appeared in the Ontario Superior Court, the Ontario Court of Appeal and private arbitrations.
John graduated from law school with first class honours specializing in both International Trade and Corporate Commercial Law. Having litigated shareholder and employee disputes he understands the value of companies protecting their businesses with the proper upfront legal work many Canadian businesses lack.

Toronto Startup Lawyer

Wires Law is a Toronto business & e-commerce law firm delivering legal services to entrepreneurs, consultants, freelancers, micro, small and medium sized business across Canada. In many cases, we act as your virtual general counsel. We’re also available in person in Toronto.